Homeless man faces charges in disturbance

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, April 12, 2005

The board was finalizing its town and school budget deliberations in the lower conference room at Town Hall when 44-year-old Frank Stephens barged into the meeting. He was asked to leave, but returned "yelling and being disruptive," police said.

Board Chairman George McLaughlin said a man he does not know interrupted the meeting, and when he refused to leave after repeated requests, "I had to do something to bring the meeting back to order."

McLaughlin borrowed a cell phone from a member of the audience and contacted the police.

When police found Stephens, they charged him with disorderly conduct, and he was held overnight at jail pending an appearance this morning in Bantam Superior Court.

Over the weekend, Stephens was arrested for second-degree breach of peace and obstructing free passage after he verbally harassed a patron of a Bank Street restaurant and blocked the entrance. On that charge, he was released on a written promise to appear in court.

In recent months, local business owners have complained about Stephens' increasingly disruptive behavior. The police are well acquainted with him.

"I call him the banjo man," McLaughlin said. Stephens, like a roaming minstrel, can be seen playing the banjo around the downtown village. "I feel sorry for the guy. He obviously needs help."